“Although the governor has not officially entered the race for president we hope our endorsement will encourage him to do so,” said state Rep. Aaron Peña, R-Edinburg, the Conference’s chairman. “Rick Perry has been good for Texas and the members of the Conference join many across the state and the country who think he would be great for the nation.”

In fact, Perry the non-candidate seems to be doing better in the endorsement game than putative GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney, the widely heralded but largely unknown Tim Pawlenty or other would-be White House occupants.

The latest endorsement of Perry came Thursday when the Hispanic Republican Conference of Texas (a 33-member group of Texas legislators whose districts include sizable Hispanic populations) held one of its final meetings of the legislative session.

In a press release, the HRC said it issued the unsolicited endorsement “to encourage the governor to launch a bid for our nation’s highest office.” The group boasted — correctly — that it “has become the first political organization in the nation to endorse his potential candidacy.”